Recent study from ELABORATOR, URBANA, and E-Trikala delves into the barriers to safe and sustainable mobility that women in Trikala face

What’s stopping women in Trikala from cycling, walking, or using public transport? 

A new study reveals how caregiving, car dependency, and safety fears are shaping the way women move around the city—and why change is urgently needed. 

The Projects involved 

ELABORATOR: The European Living Lab on designing Sustainable Urban Mobility towards climate-neutral cities, funded by the Horizon EU programme, is a project dedicated to advancing safe, sustainable and inclusive urban mobility strategies. As part of its implementation strategy, ELABORATOR will demonstrate key interventions across a selection of 12 European cities. Among these, Trikala is identified as one of the six Lighthouse Cities of the project (alongside Milan, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Issy-les-Moulineaux, and Zaragoza).

The role of URBANA in the project is twofold. As a horizontal partner, URBANA assists the consortium in creating inclusive engagement strategies, ensuring that diverse social groups of future users and stakeholders are represented throughout the project. At the same time, URBANA supports the city of Trikala as a local technical partner in implementing mobility solutions tailored to local needs. A key focus is researching women's mobility patterns. 

Key findings

Trikala has a cycling culture that is bolstered by its infrastructure, initiatives, and terrain, making it one of Greece's most bike-friendly cities. Nonetheless, a number of physical and sociocultural barriers continue to prevent women from cycling (and other forms of sustainable mobility). In order to create focused interventions that support cycling and other sustainable and active modes of transportation as viable options for women, it will be essential to comprehend these difficulties. 

The first step in the research in this direction was launching a targeted survey on the Municipality of Trikala's website in January 2025. The survey, whose dissemination saw great support from E-Trikala, asked 117 women who lived in Trikala, its suburbs, and neighbouring villages about their mobility patterns and needs.

The research highlights the strong link between caregiving responsibilities and transport choices. Over half of respondents identified as caregivers, with nearly half of all daily travel related to care duties. Car dependency is high, largely due to inadequate public transport and the lack of accessible infrastructure for those transporting dependents, such as children or people with disabilities.

Bicycle use remains limited—42.4% of women reported never using one—while public transport is almost absent from caregivers’ routines, with 88.1% not using it at all. The situation is even more pronounced in rural areas, where over 80% of women never cycle and many rely on others for car travel due to not holding a driving licence. 

The complexity of daily routes of caregivers. 

Safety is another major concern influencing women’s mobility. A striking 61.5% of participants said they avoid certain routes due to fears of harassment and poor lighting, and 42.7% reported having experienced harassment while travelling around the city. 

Next steps

In response to these findings, project partners URBANA and e-Trikala will be organising a series of workshops in the coming months, inviting diverse groups of women to share their experiences and help co-develop practical solutions. The goal is to ensure that future urban mobility policies in Trikala truly reflect women’s needs and lived realities.

The full report is available here.